Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Prepaid Credit Cards Might Be The Savior

As has been discussed on many message boards, prepaid Visa/Mastercards have been working with great success on the "US facing poker sites" (as Bill Rini likes to say).

Not all of them work, but many do. The ones that do are issued by banks outside the USA, even though they are sold inside the USA.

The apparent good news is that fish could reload easily with these cards. You can load them from a variety of sources, including Paypal, Western Union, bank accounts, and in person (at a retail location like Radio Shack or gas stations).

There are literally hundreds of different options for prepaid CC's. Perform your due diligence and check out the fees and limits involved. I have seen limits ranging from $150 to $25,000 USD. Some cards have rewards for usage, many have fees for inactivity. Some are reloadable only a few times.

Most of these cards don't allow you to cashout back to the card. This would require withdrawal by paper check or Epassporte.

HOWEVER....

I have uncovered a few options that are issued out of Canada. Most Visa card issued in Canada are CFT eligible, meaning you could cashout on the same prepaid card used to deposit. US customers can purchase these cards. Bingo - most problems solved.

The only way we'll all know for sure which are the best is trial and error.

The fly in the ointment is fees. It look like players now pay the vig, unlike in the good ol' days that ended last week. That goes for e-wallets as well.